DALLAS _ The body of a man believed to have wounded a Dallas Fire-Rescue firefighter-paramedic and a neighbor Monday morning was found inside an Old East Dallas home several hours after the shooting was reported, officials said.
Officers responding to a shooting call about 11:30 a.m. on Reynolds Avenue, near Dolphin Road arrived to find a Dallas Fire-Rescue ambulance at the scene and a paramedic and another person down in the street, interim Dallas Police Chief David Pughes said.
As they approached, officers were fired on and had to take cover. A police sergeant arriving at the scene ran to the severely injured paramedic, pulled him out, and into his squad car and drove him to Baylor University Medical Center, he said.
"We believe ... as a result of those actions that paramedic's life was saved," Pughes said.
The paramedic underwent surgery and was in critical but stable condition Monday afternoon. The resident who was also shot is in ICU, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.
Another police officer responding to the call was also injured, but was not transported to the hospital. The extent of the officer's injuries has not been released, Pughes said.
Police received information that the suspected shooter, who has not been identified, was holed up in a house on the street where the shooting occurred. SWAT was brought in, and a police robot was sent into the house where they believed the man was hiding, he said.
Once in, the robot located the body of the man believed to be the shooter and another person. The suspected shooter was dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Rawlings said.
The paramedic, an 11-year veteran of the department whose name has not been released, was out of surgery Monday afternoon and transferred to the ICU.
He suffered significant blood loss, and went into cardiac arrest three times during surgery. At least one gunshot pierced an artery, and his leg was broken by a bullet.
Officers on the scene were told that "it was just a simple dispute between two neighbors that escalated into a shooting," Pughes said.
Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief David Coatney said the notes on the call sheet indicated said "self-inflicted," which may have caused some confusion over whether paramedics believed they were responding to a suicide.
"In this particular event ... it came in as a shooting incident and within buried in the notes it originally said self-inflicted so that's what they believed they were going into," he said.
Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedics have access to body armor kits carried in rescue units that are deployed to scenes, but the wounded paramedic did not have it on.
Coatney said the department is looking into whether to change the policy of whether paramedics carry the armor in rescue vehicles.
Anna Hill, president of the neighborhood association, tweeted a description of the shooter and told everyone to "be safe and look out." The shooter was described as a bald black male wearing a green shirt and jeans. He walks with a limp.
A helicopter hovered above as police searched for the shooter. Early in the search, officers armed with rifles crouched behind police cars. The Dallas police gang unit, state police and members of the Dallas field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were also in the area.
The shooting occurred not far from the Dolphin Road Fire Training Academy, the city of Dallas said in a statement. Those there were sheltering in place.
Officers were reportedly going door to door searching for the shooter, who was said to be armed with a rifle, according to media reports.
A woman who lives on the street where the gunman's body was found said she started getting calls around noon from her neighbors who said there had been a shooting. They told her to stay away, but she drove to the neighborhood anyway and waited on word from police.
"We just keep an eye on each other," she said.
April Garcia, another resident, returned after a day out with her mom and children to find cops blocking the street where she lives. "Another day in the hood," she said, before driving away with her family. "Another day in the hood."
